Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in connection with the suicide of ex-serviceman Ram Kishan Grewal over One Rank One Pension (OROP) issue. He also accused him of not only cheating the soldiers, but exploiting surgical strikes by the Indian Army for electoral gains.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi is lying to the nation that he has implemented the One-Rank-One-Pension scheme for ex-servicemen. If OROP had come into effect, Ramkishanji would not have been forced to take such a drastic step,” Kejriwal said in a video.
“The BJP government has cheated the soldiers today, a situation never witnessed before,” he added. The Delhi chief minister did not stop here in his vitriolic attack on the NDA government.
“When the Indian Army conducted surgical strikes on terror pads along the LoC, the government did not reward them for their bravery. The very next day, the Centre enforced a massive cut on the disability pension paid to the soldiers,” he added.
Kejriwal will reportedly attend Grewal’s funeral later in the day, PTI reported.
Ram Kishan Grewal, the 70-year-old ex-serviceman ended his life by consuming poison at a park in New Delhi on Tuesday. He along with some ex-soldiers was about to submit a memorandum to the Ministry of Defence over the OROP issue. He was also believed to be upset regarding the issue.
Recently, PM Modi celebrated Diwali with the Indian Army and ITBP jawans deployed along India-China border in Sumdo, Himachal Pradesh. During an interaction with the soldiers, he had claimed that the first instalment of Rs5,500 crore had been paid for the implementation of OROP scheme.
